


Country Escape

by Shirazkindofgirl



Category: Holby City
Genre: Bernie is ours now, Fix-it fic, Gen, barns, cottages, no matter what those train wreck eps would have us believe, she's not dead, what canon messes up can be fixed in fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 10:02:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20151823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shirazkindofgirl/pseuds/Shirazkindofgirl
Summary: When Cameron arrives at his mother's country home looking for some solitude, he gets far more than he expected.





	Country Escape

**Author's Note:**

> So, remember when I said I wasn't writing Holby fic again? .... Yeah, look how well that worked out.

As Cam pulled his rental car to a stop outside the cottage, he noticed a few things which he hadn’t expected. The front garden looked tidier than usual, less overgrown, at least. The windows were open and he was sure he could hear the faint sound of music and voices coming from the back of the property. Perhaps he had overlooked a booking. Cam had tried to explain Airbnb to his mother on numerous occasions, he thought it would be a good way to earn some income whilst Bernie was away. It would be just his luck that Bernie had somehow figured out how to rent the property at the time when Cam needed the quiet and solitude the most.

There was a car in the driveway, it wasn’t one he recognised, it certainly wasn’t Charlotte’s. Cam followed the winding pathway around to the side of the cottage, it was actually a converted barn, but his mother insisted on calling it her country escape. Her private getaway for when the nightmares become too much and city life crowded in around her.

The sweet scent of blooming flowers filled the air. Bees buzzed around, taking their bounty back to the hives at the far end of the garden. Cam made a mental note to check on the hives before he left. His feet crunched on the gravel path, signalling his approach to anyone inside the property. He stopped abruptly when Hector bounded up to him. The dog barked to greet him. Cam scratched the dog behind his ears. If Hector was here, Charlotte must be too, but that didn’t explain the strange car out front. Hector had been a stray dog who hung around one of the bases where Bernie had been stationed. He would beg for scrapes and Bernie had taken a liking to him. She had decided to adopt him. Hector had arrived back in the UK a few weeks before the IED ended Bernie’s career with the army the first time around. Bernie and Charlotte had spent hours walking Hector as part of Bernie’s rehabilitation. Charlotte had taken ownership of the dog after their parents’ marriage had broken up.

Cam followed Hector to the back door. It was open and the voices he had heard earlier were louder. Cam sniffed the air; coffee, mixed with cigarette smoke. Charlotte didn’t smoke. Suddenly, a honk of a laugh sounded from inside and Cam stepped through the doorway. Charlotte sat at the kitchen table and there, with her back to the door, stood his mother. His very much alive and not missing in action, presumed dead, mother. 

“Cam!” Charlotte exclaimed.

“What the hell?” Cam looked between his sister and his mother. 

At the sound of Cam’s voice, Bernie turned around. The coffee pot landed with a clank on the stove and Bernie stepped towards her son.

Cam took a step back and closed his eyes for a second as he shook his head. This was just like his mother. After all the pain and heartache he had gone through recently, here she stood, very much alive and well.

“Cam ... I can explain.” Bernie said.


End file.
